In Greek Mythology The Moirae or Moirai (in Greek Μοῖραι, meaning the “apportioners”, often called The Fates), were the three white-robed personifications of Destiny (Roman equivalent: Parcae, “sparing ones”). They assigned to every person his or her fate or share in the scheme of things.

Their number became fixed at three: Clotho, (spinner), Lachesis (allotter) and Atropos (unturnable).

•Clotho(“spinner”) spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. Her Roman equivalent was Nona, (the ‘Ninth’), who was originally a goddess called upon in the ninth month of pregnancy.

•Lachesis(“allotter” or drawer of lots) measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod. Her Roman equivalent was Decima (the ‘Tenth’).

•Atropos (or Aisa, “inexorable” or “inevitable”) was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person’s death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread with “her abhorred shears”. Her Roman equivalent was Morta (‘Death’).

Clotho carried a spindle or a roll (the book of fate), Lachesis a staff with which she pointed to the horoscope on a globe, and Atropos a scroll, a wax tablet, a sundial, a pair of scales, or a cutting instrument.

The three were also shown with staffs or sceptres, the symbols of dominion, and sometimes even with crowns. At the birth of each man they appeared spinning, measuring, and cutting the thread of life.

Being goddesses of fate, they had to necessarily know the future, which at times they revealed, and thus became prophetic divinities.

In Homer’s “Iliad”, Moira, who was just one, acted independently from the gods.

Only Zeus, was close to Moira. Using a weighing scale (balance,) Zeus weighed trojan hero Hector’s “lot of death” against the one of Achilles.

Zeus appeared as the guider of destiny, who gave everyone the right portion.

In Hesiod’s “Theogony”, the three Moirae were daughters of the primeval goddess, Nyx (“Night”).

Later, the Moirae were considered daughters of Zeus who gave them the greatest honour, and Themis, the ancient goddess of law and divine order.

According to some sources they were sisters of three of the Horae:Eunomia (lawfulness, order), Dike (Justice), and Eirene (Peace).

As goddesses of death, they appeared together with the Keres, who were Nyx’s daughters and the female spirits (daimones) of violent or cruel death and the infernal Erinnyes (or Furies), who were three goddesses who avenged crimes against the natural order.

The Moirae had sanctuaries in many parts of Greece, such as Corinth, Sparta, Olympia and Thebes.

I have recently been nominated from “Strings of Soulfulness” for a One Lovely Blog Award.I recommend this blog. You’ll find inspirational posts, mainly in the shape of beautiful poems. Among the introductory lines of this blog, I found these ones: “Learning to be eternal in all the ways of living”. I thought those words were both touching and wise. I bet you are nodding in agreement with me!. Hence, you’d better check out the blog in order to draw your own conclusions and borne out the previous opinions.

►Here are the Award Ruless:

1) The nominee shall display the respective logo on her/his blog and link to the blogger that has nominated her/him.

2) The nominee shall nominate ten to fifteen (10 to 15) bloggers she/he admires, by linking to their blogs and informing them about the nomination.

In this occasion, I will nominate -in no particular order- new followers and/or great bloggers I have recently met or that I haven’t nominated yet.

250 Responses

Hi dear John!. Thanks for dropping by… Good to know that you enjoyed this post!. No, I haven’t heard about that brief story nor read it. Let me know if you have a link to send it to me. Thank you!…
All the best to you. Aquileana 😀

Hi Philosophermouseofthehedge!,
Thanks for dropping by… Great to know that you enjoyed the reading.
I pretty much agree with you regarding Baroque and Romantic painters and the topic of the Three Moirae. I’ll visit you soon.
All the best to you. Aquileana 😀

Hi HJ!.
Thanks a lot for dropping by and for your beautiful comment!. I loved reading your insights and I share your point of view regarding this topic. (Sigh)… Happy weekend ahead. Sending you hugs and all my best wishes!. Aquileana 😀

Hi Jeri!
I love tapestries too… And by the way I think that this pin is quite eloquent http://www.pinterest.com/pin/271764158738106862/
Maybe Life is a thread indeed.
You are right as to the word atrophy.. I’ll have to google that…
Sending you all my best wishes!. Happy weekend!. Aquileana 😀

Hi dear Sue!. Thank you very much … greta to know that you enjoyed the post… The next one will also feature a triad (three Goddesses again!).
Okay then… I am sending you hugs and wishing you a groovy weekend ahead!, Aquileana 😀

Awesome Aquileana! I have written a number of things on the Moirae Sisters, though much of this information was new to me. I loved the paintings, again, your post are such a treat! 🙂

By the way, I also love your poem, it reminds me of one of my own short poems, that plays on the idea of what looks like the occasional carelessness of our fates, how sometimes tyrants like Fidel Castro seem to be given an unfair measure of life to scheme evil things, and how the span of life allotted to children, like of multiple friends of mine, sometimes have abrupt and tragic endings to their skeins before they have hardly had a chance to unfurl out of dreams into the world in comparison to the long-lived off-colored Castros woven like cosmic jokes amongst the world’s web of our daily allotted, inter-connected threads.

“Threads of Fate”
by Ry Hakari

Sometimes the spindle will dwindle
Sometimes the thread will break instead
If life is a line and we’re woven in space and time
I want my breadth used for beauty ’till my last breath

I wrote that in August, 2009. I also wrote this companion statement to the ideas in my compliment to your work that same month, that you may enjoy:

“The wings of infinity and winds of sovereignty weave an intricate tapestry of life over time. Who can fathom the movements of the invisible hands that guide the loom? Hands that choose to use frayed and knotted threads? Threads of all lengths and strengths, widths and weakness? Threads of every hue, tint, shade and degree? Who can fathom? Who can fathom? Who can begin to imagine it being a thing of beauty? Something Divinity should delight in? That my own life woven in, rather than than detracting, is carefully designed? Who can fathom? Not I!”

“The wings of infinity and winds of sovereignty weave an intricate tapestry of life over time. Who can fathom the movements of the invisible hands that guide the loom? Hands that choose to use frayed and knotted threads?… Who can fandom?… Not I”…
Excellent dear Ryan. I also liked your brief poem above…
Fidel castro!!!. Woot that’s someone indeed… by the way remember I have also latin readers over here you might not take that analogy in a very fair way.Hehe… Like Hugo Chavez, they have fans you know… Sigh
All the best to you. I’ll check out your updates soon!. Thanks Ry.
Aquileana 😀

Ah! I apologize: I do not actually know much about Castro, only that he is loved by some, hated by others.

I suppose when one thread is woven towards the top of the tapestry, there are going to be those lower across the spectrum of life-threads with perspectives that laud the rising ones as admired stars, and others who see them and think they detract from the overall enjoyment of the world-tapestry we are all a part of.

Like in my prose at the end of the comment said, it’s a matter of perspective! I apologize with respect to anyone who might have been offended by my comment, and hope they understand that at heart I am objective in my own personal view towards the man. In retrospect, I believe I would have left a better comment if I had used more reserve in the language I used to describe someone I do not even have personal feelings about. I believe objectively the tapestry of human history/destiny looks different from where the whole of it is viewed from on the Earthly Loom, and as with all art, we really do all have our own preferences about what is beautiful, no matter how dissonant what we appreciate may appear to the eyes of those even right next to us 🙂

“Wherever the fates lead us let us follow.” Virgil. It seems that we have a strong connection to the three fates, even in our world of technology. Just yesterday, I was thinking of the Norns spinning the threads of fate at the foot of Yggdrasil. Oh, I do like reading your posts on mythology. In fact, I come back 2 and 3 times to reread them. Hugs from across the miles! 🙂

Wonderful post, dear Aquileana! Good to know that the gods are just, and follow our every step :). Also I love the poetry and the fascinating illustrations.
Thank you again for the great job you do!
Hugs, Inese

Well, death has to be addressed at some point. Who better than “The Moirae”.
As a person who sews, I am familiar with measuring a length of thread for a purpose, then cutting it.
Very Poignant post, Aquileana! ⭐ ⭐

I remember that it always gave me chills to read about the Fates, who spun (and cut) the thread of life. Such power they had! It was interesting to learn more about them here. And now I think the Keres are even more chill-inducing! I wonder if the ancient Greeks made so many sanctuaries for the Moirae in order to appease them. As always, a fantastic post, Aquileana! I hope you have a great weekend!

Hi dear Miranda!. Thank you very much for dropping by!. I am really pleased to know that you liked the post… And I always like to read your insights and intertwined musings over here… I hope you are getting ready for the weekend. Woefully it is rainy here… But well maybe it changes tomorrow~
All the best to you Aquileana 😀

Hi Makagutu…. As Luciana Cavalalro said in a comment in my previous post the number 3 is a common element: 3 Horae, 3 Kharites, 3 Gorgons, 3 Fates etc. I included: 3 Furies and 3 Goddesses involved in the Judgement of Paris… I think that this might be a clearly precedent to the Christian Trinity even when I don’t know how the progression worked over there.
All the best to you. Aquileana 😀

thanks for informative Moirae story , the pics and your sweet little poem going with it . this compares with Indian mythology where ‘Yama’ is the god of death who comes riding on a buffalo carrying a long rope looped at one end ; at appointed hour of death , Yama zeroes in on targeted soul and throws the rope and the victim bound by loop is whisked away to the heavenly court where ‘Chitragupta’, the ledger keeper (who keeps an account of earthly doings of all humans) reads out the respective soul’s good and bad actions on earth and accordingly reward or punishment is meted out . i am enjoying your guided tour of greek mythology , aqui . please keep going….best wishes…raj .

Thanks a lot for dropping by and for your comment dera Raj!… Also thanks for sharing that information related to ‘Yama’ ‘Chitragupta’. Interesting and poignant as well… I hope that one day soon you’ll write about them on your blog (maybe?)…
Your comments are always enlightening and much appreciated.
All the best to you… I hope you have a great weekend. Best wishes, Aquileana 😀

Thanks a lot for dropping by, Shehanne ⭐
I truly appreciate your words. And I am happy to know that you enjoyed this post… Make sure you have a joyful weekend. Sending you all my best wishes and hugs!. Aquileana 😀

I didn’t know about the Three Fates…they make so much sense as the three components of Destiny. The painting “A Golden Thread” by John Melhuish Strudwick (1885) is really creepy, with Death looking so bored but determined to sit it out until she’s summoned to perform the cutting of the rope. Death is ever present at the back of our mind. My dad loved life and he would say: “Death is the worst obscenity.”

I do love the Flemish tapestry and your poems, which are beautifully presented. “Life is a twisted finite thread” is a wonderful metaphor.

Hello dear Irina.
Thanks for dropping by and for sharing your insights on this topic and your impressions on the paintings here …
I liked when you quoted your dad and his wise words: “Death is the worst obscenity”.. excellent…
Woody Allen would say: “I am not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens”.
I am sending you many hugs and wishing you a great weekend!.
Aquileana 😀

Aquileana, congrats on your beautiful poem and award. I love this theme of the “Three Fates” and will mention three artists who also dealt with this theme. One is a modern one, and the two other are late renaissance ones.

Although the The Moirae are strictly Greek, they influenced artists greatly and instilled the idea of death, through female figures and life cycles, oddly enough always using the woman.
“The Dance of Life” by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch painted in the 1920’s.

According to an article I read, this painting remind viewers of “Eros versus Thanatos, the drive of life, love and sexuality against the drive of death, which, according to the Freudian idea, coincide within and among individuals.

In some Pagan traditions, the triple goddess is also seen in the form of a Maiden, Mother and Crone. The Maiden is seen as the virginal young woman, or girl, who has not yet awakened. She is full of youthful ideas and enthusiasm. The Maiden in Greek Mythology is said to be Persephone – goddess of purity and representation of new beginnings.

The Mother is the next phase in a woman’s life. She is fertility and fecundity and the gaining of knowledge. She tends to symbolize life’s fulfillment — sexual, social, and emotional. The Mother Goddess in Greek mythology is said to be Demeter, representing wellspring of life.

Finally, the Crone aspect is the final stage. She is the wise woman, the silent one who begins to retreat into meditation and reconsiders all her life choices. The Crone in Greek mythology is said to be Hecate – wise, knowing, a culmination of a lifetime of experience

In feminism, the Maiden/Mother/Crone figures are analyzed as examples of society’s treatment of women. While the Maiden is revered and the Mother is honored, the Crone is pushed aside and rejected. Many women are trying to turn that around and reclaim the title of Crone. Women are taking back the notion that with age comes wisdom. They are vibrant, sexual, life-embracing women who are proud to be labeled as Crone. Instead of hiding in the shadows and becoming stereotyped with age, they celebrate the later years with life affirming choices and new beginings.

Nevertheless, going back to Munch’s “Woman in Three Stages”, the most painful event in Edvard Munch’s life was the premature death of his mother from tuberculosis when he was five years old. This tragedy was compounded when his older sister, Sophie, to whom he had become attached in her place, also died of tuberculosis when Munch was thirteen. His paintings of women seem to reflect a deep analysis of the trauma he underwent as a child. Munch also never married, and became an alcoholic.

Hi Maria!.
Thanks for the thorough notes on the three stages of women’s life and the relationship with the triad in Greek mythology… I made reference to the triple Goddess (involving Persephone, Demeter and Hecate) when I posted on this last Goddess of Crossroads…
It is interesting that the archetype of the Mother Goddess reappears in different cultures… In Latin America she is called the Pachamama.
Thanks for the inisghts regarding Much’s painting and how it might reveal aspects of his own life… I guess that probably “The Scream” also does…
Finally as to “The three ages of Woman” I have a copy of this painting by Gustave Klimt (1905) at home. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/5348093278709117/
Have a great week ahead. Aquileana 😀

Reblogged this on Linear B, Knossos & Mycenae and commented:
This is an astonishing beautiful collage of the MOIRAE of apportioners, the Fates, which I am reblogging and commenting on, because I wish to add the Mycenaean Lineart B equivalent in the next post, along with a repost of the Linear B fragment ERINU = Erynes . Richard

Aqui,
The Three Fates is an interesting tale! I didn’t realize the full details of it before reading through your post. Of course, I enjoyed the poetry very much (you knew that, boom!). As for Clotho, the spinner, I think the thread of life can get worth thin sometimes but that BGPs are always there to help pull you back to a full life again 🙂 That is… YOU I am meaning, of course! Thanks for spinning your way into my life xo
I send you many hugs for Friday! Thank you for another lovely post to add to your growing collection here!
Love Chris xo

Thank you for your interesting post “The Moirae” backed up with clear explanation and information. The poem is beautiful and, yes, this life on earth is temporal, “we are portions of time.” The Moirae poem reminds us of the Omniscience of God. Stunning lines, my friend. 🙂 Profound, philosophical thoughts. All the best for the weekend … Iris. 🙂

Hi dear Iris!. Thank you very much for dropping by!.
I am really pleased that you liked the post and caught the symbolism behind these “Three Sisters”…
I think the Greek mastered analogies!… These Goddesses are a great example of that.
I am happy to know that you found my poem profound… Coming from you, that means a lot to me, my friend!.
Happy weekend and all the best to you Aquileana 😀

As always another article very interesting and well documented. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you very much for sharing with us. Have a wonderful weekend and happiness, Aquileana.
I send warm hugs. Ştefania. ❤ 🙂

The Three Fates by Sodoma (1525)
Il Sodoma (1477 – February 14, 1549) was the name given to the Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Il Sodoma painted in a manner that superimposed the High Renaissance style of early 16th-century Rome onto the traditions of the provincial Sienese school; he spent the bulk of his professional life in Siena, with two periods in Rome.

Sodoma was an extremely skilful late renaissance artist who was highly influenced by Leonardo. In fact, some paintings are still in dispute as to who painted them (same happened with Raphael and Michelangelo). Nevertheless, he has several masterpieces which are undeniably painted by him as confirmed by scholars. It is said that he was highly respected during his lifetime. Art historians reveal his nickname “Sodoma” was given to him because he was openly homosexual, however, he accepted it and used it himself up until his death.

I know the story of Sodoma and Gomorra… actually ity is not only on the Bible but it is the title of one of the seven books that make Proust’s book “A la Recherche du temps perdu”.. Interesting that the painter took and accepted that nickname!. Thanks Maria. Aquileana 😀

Of all the divine ones you’ve written about, the Moirae have struck me the deepest. It seems to me that they had the most control over the destiny of each mortal, each individual. The tapestries that are our lives. None are identical.
Wishing you a glorious weekend, Aquileana.

hello aquileana its dennis the vizsla dog hay i hav always herd that yoo kannot fite fayt so it is intresting to be aybel to put nayms and fayses to the wuns yoo kannot fite!!! and no wunder yoo kannot fite them as it wood be three on wun and those ar not gud odds!!! ok bye

Your ‘The Die Has Been Cast’ adds a very human perspective to the myth of these three busy females and their apportioned allotments are a beautiful interpretation of life. Of the fine images, Vedder’s 1887 effort best portrays the image that this enlightening article has put into my mind. Thank you Aquileana.

Hi Mike!. Thank you very much for dropping by!. I appreciate your insights on this topic and I am pleased to read your words regarding that brief poem and its “human perspective”… That’s why I tried to do: to give it an existential twist somehow…
Vedder’s painting is a great choice, indeed!.
All the best to you and happy week ahead. Aquileana 😀

What a nice surprise ❤
You are right regarding life's paradoxes being involved here…
Your thoughts with regard to God are eloquent and deep… I agree with you when you say that Only God can know thus defy his own fate… Well I assume it is a rhetoric question. St Anselm would have agreed with that statement as well .
Best wishes and happy week ahead to you, Aquileana 😛

God is unknowable, I’m afraid. And probably, may not be appropriate assigning to Him any kind of human conscientious; neither situate him inside of the time-line.(or time circle if you prefer)

The relationships between god and his fate, between god and his creation are also unknowables (very complexing, at least), and, also, may not be appropriate the extraction of conclusions towards other human existence level.

Is for this that, for instance, I asked if God can know and defy his own fate (or His own creation’s fate, if you prefer).

Those are, again, some paradoxes.

Then, finally, the syllogism:
God know my fate -> my fate is done (alea jacta est)
May not be correct because the axiome “god know my fate” falls, as I said above. It is not true but it is not false. It belongs to another logical-linguistic level, different than the conclusion.

In other hand, It seems that, if someone thinks “alea jacta est” his psychism become different than other who think “I can defy my fate” or “I can create my future”. (¿Passive/responsible?)

Thank you very much for your words over here P&C!.
That quote you have highlighted is a beautiful one indeed…
There are ways to become eternal, indeed… Writing is one of them. Shakespeare knew that well and wrote about that in his sonnets..
Best wishes! Aquileana 😀

Reblogged this on Big Red Carpet Nursing and commented:
So long ago, we had no sond understanding of death, imaging Morta cutting us off arbitrarily. How much – be honest – have we advanced since then on this topic?

Hi Maria!…. Thank you very much for dropping by… You are right… number threee has always been a magical number somehow…
And by the way, in nordic mythology, the Moirae had their equivalent on The Norns …
All the best to you!. Aquileana 😛

How diligent does she spin
A conglomerate of lives, in her yarn
Reveal…
Precarious moments that whine
While twisting,
The Fates that hurt a soul, who becomes entangled and intertwined…

Yet, to form pleasing, transient designs
The fabric that yields color to the blend to have life foretold
In some form it will bear a rhyme
Emerging from the toils of childbirth, but could destiny deceive them blind?
So that Fate could once again be mine…

Thanks Aquileana, I just thought of Nietzsche when he wrote: “Why Am I Destiny”, he was of course critiquing religion, but he thought of himself as a “destroyer of values”. I think I’m beginning to understand what he meant by destroying, and why many modern artists also began this trend. I suppose at some point, one’s destiny is some sort of recognition as one’s “truth”, but it’s also a temporal illusion, as a “destiny” could also change despite it appearing to be real at this present moment. Perhaps creativity is a cycle of destroying and creating, to nurture human existence and craddle it into harmony through art.

How interesting that each of the fates has a different aspect (I tend to think of them as a single unit, I suppose) – and especially interesting to see how they developed from goddesses of childbirth and death.

Oh and I particularly like the nickname “the unturnable” – so ominous and yet just, at the same time.

And you captured the myth so well in your poem, dear Aquileana – “a twisted finite thread”… “we are portions of time”… I think “portions” is a wonderful choice of word 🙂

Hi dear Sue!.
I am so glad to know that you like this post… Your musings and feedback are deep!… I truly like to read your comments!.
We are portions of time as we are such stuff as Time is made of… Sound like Shakespeare, right?. Wink 😉
All the best to you!, Aquileana 😀

The three Fates, our lives hang in their hands ;D I love how the various mythologies have a unifying aspects. Where mention who weighed the Trojan hero Hector’s “lot of death” against Achilles, reminds me of the Ancient Egyptians judgement ceremony of “weighing of the heart” before they can move on to the Afterlife. Only if their hearts balance against truth and justice then their souls could proceed.
Wonderful post!
grazie
Luciana 😀

Great comment dear Luciana… I have read many references regarding the Fates in Homer’s iliad … Thanks for pointing that out… And also for the note regarding the Ancient Egyptians’s ceremonies…
A very interesting comment… I much appreciate it cara.
Abbraccio. Aquileana 😀

Hi my dear friend,
this week I ordered another gift, but this time, for my friend Mary.
For my sister I took a beautiful pink tablet for Christmas,
and for my friend Mary, a little necklace with some blue ladybugs,
white roses and black crystals. I love it so much.
I wish you a beautiful week end.
Here is cloudy and windy but I’m waiting for winter a long time.
kisses and hugs 🙂

Arrgh what Fates we weave as we each sit within our webs of creation… Have you noticed,, well of course you have how we get most things in Three’s?? .. Three Fates, 3 Charites, 3 Furies?… Past Present and Future… Good Bad and Indifferent!… Up Down and middle.. Left Right and Central.. 🙂 :-D… Like the scales of Balance.. each tipping point balancing upon the middle ground!.. Just a thought! 🙂
Loved reading…
Enjoy your relaxation time..
Bug Hugs Sue xxx

Hola Aquileana, Just now, i visited the blogs on your nominees and i must tell that they have excellent blogs on their websites. Really so much to learn from their way of writing. Some of them were in Spanish. As you know i do not know much of Spanish, i tried to read them and improve my knowledge of Spanish language. I guess, this is an interesting way to improve my language skills. :):)

Aquileana, congtualations on your award, always well deserved! I completely enjoyed this post, “The Moirae” (“The Three Fates”). It’s an uncomfortable feeling to know that everything has been predetermined for us, but thankfully, we live our lives not knowing the fate that is bestowed upon us. Truly what a job and responsibilities these, “The Moirae” had! Probably not the most popular Goddesses. The art work included, stunning as always. I really have enjoyed your poetry, which you included, lovely acrostic, and favorite line from “The Die has been Cast” is, “Birth and death, cradle and grave…And the rest is silence…” wonderful! Please take good care.

Hi dear Pepper!… How great to read your comment tonight…
I truly think your musings and inisghts on this topic are clever and ready witted.
I am happy to know that you liked the acrostic poem… And the post!
Sending you all my best wishes. Aquileana 😀

[…] In this post from Aquileana I got nominated for the second time for the lovely blog award, and I have forgotten to thank her and accept the award. Since I already once accepted the award I decided just to give Aquileana a thank you note in this post! […]

Another informative and well illustrated post. 🙂
I incorporated the three fates into a poetic interpretation of Red Riding Hood, using the works of Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PHD as part of my inspiration. You and other visitors may find it of interest.